Emergent Research

EMERGENT RESEARCH is focused on better understanding the small business sector of the US and global economy.

Authors

The authors are Steve King and Carolyn Ockels. Steve and Carolyn are partners at Emergent Research and Senior Fellows at the Society for New Communications Research. Carolyn is leading the coworking study and Steve is a member of the project team.

Videos

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Emergent Research works with corporate, government and non-profit clients. When we reference organizations that have provided us funding in the last year we will note it.
If we mention a product or service that we received for free or other considerations, we will note it.

November 08, 2013

The Cloud's Impact on Business Models

Over 800 people attended the event which focused on improving business processes through the use of mobile, cloud and connected services and technologies.

My biggest take away from the event was the impact cloud technologies are having on accounting firm business models.

The use of cloud-based accounting systems such as Quickbooks Online is fundamentally changing how accounting firms interact with their clients - and fundamentally changing industry business models.

The traditional way accounting firms service their clients is a different time - different place model. The client sends their data to the accountant (often in shoe boxes or other non-digital formats), the accountant organizes the data and then sends the information back to the client.

Data requests and questions tend to follow this same pattern. The client calls or emails a question and the accountant figures out an answer and gets back to the client at a later time.

These changes don't sound that big, but their impact on accounting firm business models are enormous.

It's changing how accountants service their clients, how they charge (from hourly rates to value-based pricing), the type of skill sets they need to be successful and leading to more firm and practice specialization. It's also creating new opportunities for accounting firms that can successfully adapt to the cloud.

Supporting Strategies: They are an accounting firm who has created a new business model by focusing on being the outsource provider of accounting services for small businesses. Their site does a nice job of explaining the benefits of this approach.

Backops: a startup providing cloud-based back offices services to small businesses. Interesting approach and business model.